Importance of musculoskeletal pain in work activities in obese individuals

The consequences of obesity include musculoskeletal pain and its influence on a person's social, personal, and professional life, which is a great challenge for the multidisciplinary team in the treatment of obesity. The objective of this work was to evaluate musculoskeletal pain in the work activities of obese individuals.

An uncontrolled cross-sectional study was conducted. During 8 months, all obese individuals seen in the preoperative period at a tertiary care referral center for the treatment of obesity and metabolic syndrome were invited to participate in the study. Ninety-five persons filled out the Nordic questionnaire for the analysis of musculoskeletal symptoms (Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire (NMQ)) after having signed an informed consent form and having met the inclusion criteria of the study.

Of the 95 patients assessed, 71 were females, the mean age was 39.3 ± 10.1 years, and mean body mass index was 47.25 ± 8.72 kg/m(2). Sixty-three (66.31 %) individuals felt musculoskeletal pain in some region of the body in the last 12 months, and 42 (44.21 %) sometimes gave up working in the same period because of musculoskeletal pain. There was a statistical association between BMI and the three aspects evaluated by the NMQ.

Musculoskeletal pain was very related to obese individuals who participated in this study, and in the majority cases, execution of the work activities of these persons was impeded. This indicates a need for further studies that address this subject to better attend to and intervene in the health of this population.